Back on board at last!
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Thu 1 Nov 2012 20:11
As we arrived at the marina, we had to pass the 'hard standing' area where all the boats that were hauled out stood on cradles. What a mess. Just about all the boats had fallen over in the storm and what is left is a tangled mess of boats and rigs. The guys were at work this morning trying to sort that out. In addition, a lot of the docks themselves have been damaged in some way. There is obviously no electric power to the marina as yet and we live in hope of that being restored, but not any time soon. Also, the water supplied by the marina is contaminated & needs to be boiled before using. However, we do have a generator on board, gas to cook with and diesel heating, as well as which, the last thing we did before leaving the boat was to fill the tanks with fresh water, so we are in a pretty comfortable situation.
The docks themselves took a bit of a pounding and dock 'E' actually left its pilings in the surge, this was our greatest fear - amazingly the dock is now back attached as it should be with limited damage. Back at dock 'I' where we are, the most damage was sustained by the ramp leading from the land, through the dock house, where the electrical meters etc are housed, and onto the pontoons. This is completely impassable, so the only way back to the boat was by dinghy from another dock. We will probably move the boat tomorrow back to dock 'D' where we started, as they are trying to clear this dock for repairs.
Seaduced looked fabulous! It was an emotional homecoming, and despite our initial fears that she was a bit lop-sided to port when we arrived, once we had removed some of the extra lines that she was lashed with, she soon straightened up.
The first job was to get the extra 'hurricane' lines off. These were the 50m lines that we had used at the last minute to tie her across the docks, so she now only occupies one side of the berth. After that we decided the priorities were to loosen the boom, as the lines holding that were a serious trip hazard and then put the spray hood back up to keep the boat dry. We managed all this and then replaced the bimini and put back all the other items that we had removed from the deck for safety, and she know looks like she always did - like our home again.
It is quite strange being here right now. Yesterday we came to try and get to the marina, but failed to get past the State Park Police, so went for a walk in Jersey City. The amount of rubbish bags from people clearing out damaged homes is astounding, the pavements are lined with them and ruined belongings and it really brings it home how bad the situation is for so many people. We managed to find a coffee shop in town that was open, as it was freezing walking round, and got chatting to another couple who were escaping from their house for a while. They had no power and said the house was cold already - they may have to wait another week or more to get it restored. What amazed me was how little they knew about what had happened. Without power anywhere in their neighbourhood, they had no TV, or news or any real contact with the outside world. They had no idea that Manhattan had flooded, and had no power or that the subways were down, etc. They were shocked when they heard the extent of the disaster. The main street in town has some power and some shops are open more or less as normal, but the coffee shop we were in was selling only coffee, made in a pan on a gas stove - it's like going back to the dark ages. The nights are obviously long now, as it goes dark early. We went on deck to look over the bay towards Downtown Manhattan, normally a fabulous view and a sea of lights, but tonight it is in darkness.
Our only casualty was our freezer, the food in the fridge is good, but the whole freezer had defrosted and stank!
Tomorrow we are going to go to the supermarket to see what supplies we can get. Fortunately, our hotel was of a sufficiently low standard that it served UHT milk in small cartons with the breakfast buffet, so each morning we took a few more and now John has a nice little stash for his tea. We have seen supermarkets with completely empty shelves on the TV reports, so who knows what will be available. I think that deliveries have resumed as normal, but we shall see. This however really is a small inconvenience and we have enough tins etc to keep us going for a while.
The other big issue here is 'gas'. The fuel pumps are dry in many places and even if they weren't there is no electric to power them. There are huge queues everywhere. We have heard that when the tankers arrive the police and emergency services are commandeering the fuel to keep themselves going - the sirens are a constant background noise, now more so than ever.
We are currently subject to not one, but two curfews! The Governor of New Jersey State announced last night that there would be a curfew after 7pm as it is so dark, and there are no street signs, lights etc, so it isn't safe being out. Also they hope to prevent looting, which is unfortunately happening already in some areas. Secondly, the park where the marina is based, is only open from 10am until 3pm. If we leave to go shopping etc, we have to be back by 3pm or the access is closed! One of the benefits of moving the boat tomorrow will be to allow us to use the dock to get off - but where will we go when we get off I ask you?? Thank God for our DVD collection!
At the moment, we are pretty much stuck where we are. We intend to head down south towards Chesapeake Bay as soon as possible. However, at the moment, there is so much debris in the New York Bay and the Hudson River, that boat movements are restricted while the authorities try to clear the biggest and most dangerous flotsam. There are whole trees and worse floating around and there is a very real danger that, after surviving the hurricane unscathed, we could come unstuck by hitting something in the water. How ironic would that be!!
As a quick note, I am not sure when you will get this email or when I will be able to update the blog again as there is little, if any, working wifi anywhere! We were in Starbucks this morning and couldn't get a signal there at all which is unusual, but when you saw how many people were packed in there trying to use the wifi, get warm, have a hot drink, it is not surprising. When we went to the supermarket, people were hanging around the ends of the aisles with phones etc plugged in under the shelves - who knew there were electrical sockets under the supermarkets shelves?? We haven't spoke to a single person yet who actually has any power at home.
We feel quite cut-off now we are back on the boat, as we have no TV, wifi, radio or any real contact with the outside world, and have no idea what is happening. The really bad news is that we heard today from the supermarket cashier that snow is expected by Monday, as if Mother Nature hasn't done enough damage already!
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